It
all started when I began discussing cutting dovetails with fretsaws
with Lee Marshall, the designer at Knew
Concepts . I
had read a post on his fretsaw on one of the forums, and they
promised to be a possible end for my search for a stiff yet light
fretsaw.

I’m
not sure if you experience the same frustration as I when it comes to
removing the waste when sawing dovetails. Fretsaws are great tools
for this. However they are either too short or too flexible, or both.
Flexible frames make sawing very tricky. The blade wanders all over
the show. Then the blade twists, and snaps! Damn, I used to snap so
many blades. There is some technique in keeping the blade from
twisting its kerf, but this is made all the harder to avoid if the
saw frame is not stiff enough.

And
then there is the situation where you are cutting dovetails on a wide
board, such as the carcase of a cabinet. You can’t use a dinky
jeweller’s saw, such as my favourite vintage Hugenot-Tissot.
Great for small drawers or boxes, but …

What
is possible is that one can twist the blades at 45 degrees, but I
must confess that I found this hit-and-miss. Plus there is the
problem achieving enough tension in the blade. Some do not seem to be
too fussed with this. I guess I am too fussy.

I
tried coping saws. I have a couple, such as this one by Olson.

Olson
also offer blades that are thin enough to squeeze into the kerf of
the average dovetail saw. The advantage of sawing with a coping saw
is that the frame may be kept short – and stiff – and
then the angle at which the blade saws may be adjusted so that the
frame runs clear of the top of the carcase. The downside of a coping
saw is that the blades are still thick and heavy, and they saw a
wider arc than the fine blades of a fretsaw. Sawing out waste needs
to be done in two separate movements, not one continuous saw cut. For
example, as in this breadboard end ..

Then
I discovered a long – 12” – fretsaw sold by Lee
Valley, the “Featherlight”.

I
really liked this saw. It was definitely not perfect – not by a
long way – but it offered more stiffness and, especially
lightness, than any other fretsaw I had tried in this length.

What
is so important about a light fretsaw?

Well
the jeweller’s saw is small. Just under 3” depth of cut.
Lightness does not matter much for me at this size. It is only when
the depth of the saw begins to stretch out, and especially when it
gets deep as 12”, that the balance of a heavy frame becomes
noticeable. A heavy, unbalanced frame is more difficult to control
and more fatiguing. It occurred to me that a Jeweller may not
experience this if their sawing is done vertically. However a
woodworker needs to saw with the frame held horizontally, and this
places much different stresses on the wrist.

So
I contacted New Concepts to enquire about the stiffness of their
largest model, an 8” made of aluminium, and met Lee Marshall.
We got chatting, as one does, and it became evident that Lee was
really passionate about his fretsaw design. He built this for
jewellers. His website proudly shows some amazing fretwork …

Few
woodworkers have discovered Lee’s fretsaws. Indeed, when we
began our discussions Lee had no idea how a dovetail was sawn –
and, thinking it was for the vertical strokes, he tried to convince
me to purchase the 3” model!

Lee mentioned to me that he
also had a titanium model in the works. "The
Titanium frame is my attempt to "turn swords into plowshares".
The material that I have access to is 1/8" thick that was left
over from the F-22 fighter."

If
you go to the Knew Concept website you will find lots of red
fretsaws. Red?

Why
red? Lee believes that the colour aids creativity.

I
was going to purchase the 8" model, but at this point decided to
wait for the titanium to go into production. It would be stiffer than
the aluminium, which is The Good Thing I had been searching
for.

Anyway, I received a email from Lee a week or two later
to say that he was sending me a gift ... a titanium fretsaw, an early
prototype, the design of which had since been improved (on the
aluminium model). "It
was cut pretty early in the design stage and is now obsolete. I have
made numerous changes that make it even stronger, lighter, and that
also increase ease of use."

It
turned out to be this beautiful, really cool fretsaw.

Close
up of the clamping mechanism ..

Inserting
and tensioning a blade is easy. Just loosen the tension on the
holder, then release the blade clamp. To replace, simply insert the
blade, clamp and tension. Done.

Using
this fretsaw was like a dream come true. Stiff, light and balanced.

Most
sensible people would be satisfied and leave well alone. But I had
this dream .. 

I
mentioned to Lee that the ideal fretsaw for a woodworker would have a
5” titanium body with a blade angled at 45°. A short body
would be stiffer, lighter and better balanced, and the 45°
cutting angle would mean that it could be used on any length. Best of
all worlds.

Well
the postman delivered a pizza box yesterday.

I
opened it excitedly, hoping that it did not include anchovies. I was
rather disappointed that all it contained was another prototype
fretsaw ...

This
was the order I placed for a 45 degree blade in a 5" Titanium
frame.

Remember
that titanium is heavier than aluminium. But it is considerably
stiffer. Therefore it needs less reinforcing at bends, and the design
is slightly different to the aluminium models.

Olson Coping Saw

250 gm

Hugenot-Tissot 3” jeweller’s
saw

175 gm

LV Featherlight 12” fretsaw

255 gm

Knew Concepts 8” titanium
fretsaw

190 gm

Knew Concepts 5” titanium
fretsaw

150 gm

Of
course I had to try it out today. I was busy on mortice-and-tenon
joints for a cabinet, so you will have to excuse the practice
dovetails I offer as a demonstration.

So
we start with the tail board. Well, actually tail boards
– I was planning to
build a box at first. I just did not have the time.

Sawing
the waste first requires the fretsaw to be leaned over to the left …

…
and then the right …

There
was more to saw when it came to the pins ..

OK,
I should have taken the time to sharpen my chisels as the pine was
soft.

So
what was the result? Actually, this part is really unimportant. It is
sawing the waste that is important. What was that like? Well it was
easy and effortless. This is the fretsaw to aim for when cutting
dovetails. End of story.

I
received the latest version – the production version – of
the Knew Concepts Fretsaw from Lee shortly before Christman 2010.
This is now described as the “Woodworker’s version”.

It
differs from its predecessors in a heavier construction and a new
quick-release, adjustable-angle blade holder …

Below
is the titanium version, which sells for the price of a decent
dovetail saw. There is an aluminium version as well, which is about
half this.

A
close up of the cam release and adjustment mechanism ..

The
blade will swivel 45° each side (just loosen the cam and rotate
the clamps – a 2 second task), and there is a zero indent for
centering the blade.

The
saw has now been optimised for a thicker saw blade, while the
metalworker version (that is described earlier on here) requires the
blade insert holes to be drilled out for the wider blades. I continue
to use 18 tpi Eclipse blades (from the UK). Lee has tested these and
was impressed. But they are difficult to access in the USA, and so he
supplies the fretsaws with an Olson 12.5 tpi skip tooth blade.

My
first efforts with the new fretsaw was to cut a bunch of dovetails
for a box.

It
has a more solid feel to the earlier version (keeping in mind that
this was a prototype). It is taut and solid, and making it easier to
maintain a straight line.

So
there we have it .. Lee has put together an even higher quality
package.